News from ICANN

Day two at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is all about constituencies meeting. It is the day that the country code Name Supporting Organization (ccNSO) members meet the board, and also start their daily meetings; ccNSO supports country Top Level Domains like .za, .ke, .ug, .tz, .mw, .na etc.

Other constituents of ICANN also get to meet the board but the highlight of the day was board meeting with the Governments and given the control issues between the two parties, meetings are always interesting to attend.

Here are some highlights….

Domain take down likely to continue

The issue of domain seizures has been in the news with the takedown of file sharing site Megaupload and the revelation that any domain registered with a US registry is expected to follow US laws.

During an open session between the Government Advisory Committee (GAC) and the ICANN board, it was confirmed that ICANN will enforce its contracts with registrars more effectively in oder to meet expectations from governments and law enforcement authorities. The expectations were contained in a 12- page document submitted by the GAC, which also includes representatives from national law enforcement as well as interpol.

The enforcement will cover all the 22 registries accredited by ICANN whether they are American corporations or not. ICANN also confirmed that it will enforce its contracts with registrars to ensure more compliance and de-accreditation incase they flout the rules. ICANN has accredited more than 1000 registrars but a third have had their contracts terminated.

Commonwealth Cybersecurity Forum to support member countries

The Commonwealth Cybersecurity Forum will support member countries’ cybersecurity efforts through training and technical support.

At a forum held at the sidelines of the ongoing ICANN meeting, the Commonwealth pledged to support member efforts through training and coordination of support efforts between members. ICANN also offered to support members with domain name system training and other needs that may arise.

ICANN At-Large Committee apologizes to Senegal

During the meeting between members of At Large Committee and the GAC, Senegal raised an issue with a letter of complaint that was written after the meeting in Senegal last October. The letter raised issues with the hotel the members stayed in, poking holes at efforts made by the government to ensure comfortable stay in Dakar.

Maye Diop, the Director of ICT at the Senegalese ministry of ICT said the issue of hotel choice had nothing to do with the government and it was unfair for the At-Large Committee (ALAC) to criticize the government and the local organizing committee.

Olivier Crépin-Leblond, ALAC representative apologized to Senegal government and admitted that mistakes were made, and that the letter should not have been sent.